To end the deadlock in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party has called for an all-party meeting today6 (Monday)  after the Congress chose to skip the meet called last week. There have been four all-party meetings during this monsoon session but the impasse continues. But the hope of resuming session seems to be still far away as Sonia Gandhi said early this morning that the Congress won't relent on protests until government agrees to remove leaders caught in controversies. The opposition led by Congress has been demanding the resignations of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje over the controversy surrounding Lalit Modi. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's resignation is also on the agenda of the opposition. He is facing allegations of involvement in the multi-crore Vyapam scam. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi will have to take the blame squarely for the disruptions in the Monsoon session, saying her party was "confused and afraid".

Minister's remark about 'no work, no pay' for MPs makes Cong angry
Congress on Sunday hit back at Union Minister Mahesh Sharma for his suggestion of 'no work, no pay' policy over logjam in Parliament, saying such views were "wrong" as Congress MPs were "working hard". "We are working. We have standing committee meetings, I have a select committee meeting on land tomorrow and also a standing committee meeting on health. Therefore, it is wrong to say MPs are not working. MPs are working hard," Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh told reporters.

Sharma had yesterday said in Varanasi that there is a suggestion for applying 'no work, no pay' policy on MPs like it is being done with regard to bureaucrats, triggering a debate after which he went into a denial mode.

Forecast of heavy showers over central, eastern India
Heavy rainfall is likely to lash eastern and central parts of the country over the next two days. Due to a depression over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand, heavy rainfall will occur at many places over West Bengal, Bihar and Sikkim till Monday, while Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh will get heavy showers over the next two days. Similarly, the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh too will get rain on Monday and Tuesday.

Paswan demands President's Rule in Bihar for free and fair poll
LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan on Sunday charged the Nitish Kumar government with carrying large scale transfer of IAS and IPS officials with an eye on the coming Assembly elections and said he will urge the Centre to impose President's Rule in Bihar for a free and fair poll. The state government had transferred 41 IPS and 36 IAS officials with an aim to maximise its electoral benefits, the Union Minister told reporters in reply to a question.

Couples who use Facebook together, stay together
Couples who spend time together on Facebook tend to share a stronger bond and enjoy a longer-lasting relationship than those who avoid seeing each other online. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that couples who were chatting on Facebook echoed those feelings in real life and were likely to have better marital ties. In another study, Pew Research Centre says that 75 per cent of parents log on to the social networking site daily and mothers tend to use Facebook more than fathers.

Three super-Earths found 21 light years from Earth
A new planetary system with three super-Earths and one outer giant planet has been discovered by astronomers at a distance of just 21 light years from Earth. The remarkable system, named HD219134, in the constellation Cassiopeia hosts one outer giant planet and three inner super-Earths, one of which transits in front of the star.

Mamata spends night in office to monitor flood situation
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee spent Sunday night in office to monitor the flood situation in the state in the wake of Cyclone Komen. The chief minister also called in the army for rescue operations in worst flood-hit areas, as heavy rain continued to lash the state. As many as 48 people have died so far in the state. Over 38,000 houses were destroyed, about 2 lakh partially damaged and 5,672 cattle killed as heavy rain hit 12 districts. Rain water that accumulated after two days of heavy rain in many areas of Kolkata receded on Sunday. Meanwhile, in Gujarat, 14 districts and population of about 40 lakh were affected in recent floods due to heavy rainfall in the last few days. In Rajasthan, so far 28 people have lost their lives.

After Kejriwal, derogatory word for cops in ‘PK’ lands Aamir Khan in trouble
A documentary filmmaker, Ullas, has filed a complaint with the Delhi police against the Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan for using the derogatory word ‘thulla’ against a cop in the film 'PK'. "There is no debate on whether the said word is derogatory or not. My issue is that if the sentiments of police officials were hurt after hearing Arvind Kejriwal using the word then why not in the case of Aamir Khan. In the film PK, the word has been used and the movie' was released much before Mr Kejriwal gave that interview to a news channel," DNA newspaper quoted the complainant as saying.

Special session of Delhi Assembly to discuss women’s security today
While Delhi panel on women has sought report from the police on crimes against women, the Aam Aadmi Party chief and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has convened a special one-day session of Delhi Legislative Assembly to discuss women's security in the national capital. The special session was earlier postponed due to the sudden death of former president APJ Abdul Kalam.